Biophotonics@Tyndall is a newly established collaborative research programme based at the Tyndall National Institute led by Professor Stefan Andersson-Engels. The Group’s focus will be to form close collaborations with clinicians, research centres and companies to accelerate biophotonics technology and rapidly deliver breakthrough technologies into the hands of health-care providers. Using photonics as a driver for the faster development and deployment of more accurate, less invasive diagnostic and treatment methods for cancer and other diseases. The new programme has been formed by the Tyndall National Institute, the Irish Photonic Integration Centre and University College Cork, under a €5M award from Science Foundation Ireland.

Reporting to the Head of Biophotonics, the position of Research Fellow will be expected to provide a supporting operational role in the expansive research programme and in the supervision and management of the Biophotonics@Tyndall group at IPIC. The successful candidate will also be directly responsible for one or more of the projects to be initiated under this exciting new venture, including finding solutions to existing clinical and pre-clinical challenges and the advancement of techniques such as diffuse reflectance, fluorescence, Raman and photoacoustics. Further details can be found here .

Responsibilities

The candidate is expected to be creative, self-motivated, and should inspire group members to work efficiently in a friendly atmosphere and collaborative environment. This is a key position, of central importance for the success of building this new biophotonics group at Tyndall. The main technical area of expertise will therefore most likely be within waveguide engineering, a very intriguing field with potential for break-through within deep tissue imaging and manipulation. This work will primarily be conducted in collaboration with Prof. Stefan Kröll at Lund University and Lihong Wang at CalTech. The expertise area of research might also be within biomedical optics systems or integrated optics, other central fields of research within the team.

Key responsibilities will include:

Manage the operational development of the Group in line with the IPIC strategy and the Tyndall Strategic plan.

Support the identification and development of independent research programmes

Lead the management of research capabilities, laboratories and associated infrastructure in order to successfully execute research objectives,

Support the establishment, management and development of the research team (staff, post-docs and students) and provide mentorship, coaching and supervision as appropriate

Contribute to the engagement on intellectual property activities in partnership with the Office of Technology Transfer

Contribute to the development of national and international collaborative research networks and create new synergies/collaborations between Tyndall and other research third party bodies

Leverage existing projects and research facilities at Tyndall in order to identify new research opportunities and industrial projects

Independently identify research objectives and potential funding sources and prepare and write bids for funding proposals

Establish and maintain key industrial partnerships, including management and delivery of commercially-focused projects

Disseminate the outcomes of the research, including peer‐reviewed academic publications and presentations at conferences of international standing

Supervise postdocs, post graduate research students as supervisor and/or co‐supervisor, as appropriate

Participate in post graduate examination internal and external

Be able to participate in undergraduate teaching as required

Ensure all activities are compliant with the Tyndall Quality Management system

Ensure all activities are compliant with the required Health and Safety standards

Carry out any additional duties as may reasonably be required within the general scope and level of the post

Criteria - Essential

The successful candidate must have a Ph.D. in one of the following disciplines: physics, biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, or a related field

At least six years relevant post-doctoral experience

Track record of high quality peer reviewed publications, as evidenced by h-index

Writing of competitive research proposals, national and EU

Proven track record of securing research funding and the coordination of successful European and National collaborative research projects (including industry-focused research)

The candidate must demonstrate an academic record of scientific excellence, independent research, and good writing and communication skills

Experienced in the formation and management of research teams, including supervision to completion of postgraduate students

Significant experience of research-led teaching and examining at postgraduate level as the primary academic supervisor

Criteria - Desirable

Experiences of relevance for the fields of biomedical optics, the ultrasound-optical interaction for waveguide engineering project and within system integration are desired.

The applicant should be eligible to apply for a SFI starting investigator research award. He or she will demonstrate a desire to develop a long term research career in Ireland, and will be committed to ensuring that research outputs will be exploited to the benefit of the Irish economy.

Experienced in the following areas, and will demonstrate an aptitude to develop key skills in the remaining areas:

Supervision of Postdoctoral Researchers, Postgraduate students and undergraduate students

Establishment and maintenance of key academic and industrial partnerships

Management of commercial development projects

Financial management of awards

Strong background in establishing new research facilities including:

Development and implementation of a multi-disciplinary research programme

Identification and procurement of research infrastructure

Management and design of research laboratories

Experience of holding a teaching position in a 3rd level institution could be an advantage.